GUILT: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Today, we're talking about guilt: what it is and what it isn't. All emotions are a biological call for action, which is to say that emotions are intended to drive us to take some form of protective action. For example, anger is intended to help us push away (or push back) something that is so offensive that not only do we reject it, but it raises to such a level of objection that we're willing to fight about it. Love, on the other hand, is an emotion that pulls us toward a person or thing for greater exposure and interaction. Fear, on the other hand, is designed to cause us to flee from something potentially dangerous. So, what is the biological call for guilt? I wanted to address guilt because guilt is such a powerful and ubiquitous emotion and one that is often so misunderstood. The biological call for guilt is to stop us in our tracks.

Guilt arises when some action we're taking pricks our conscience or our internal guide that tells us...